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Bride Price

Inspector Ikmen, Book 24

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About this listen

When jeweller Fahrettin Muftugolu is found dead in his apartment in the Istanbul district of Vefa, it looks like suicide. Searching the jeweller's home, Inspector Mehmet Suleyman and his team come across a hoard of extraordinary artefacts including solid gold religious relics and a mummified human head. But are they real and, if so, who owns these priceless possessions?

As his colleagues begin their investigation, Suleyman is distracted by troubles of his own. His wedding to Gonca Serekoglu is days away, but when Gonca receives her bridal bedcover from a Roma haberdasher and discovers that it is covered in blood, she sees this as a curse on their marriage. Suleyman asks his old friend Cetin Ikmen to help him uncover the truth, but the task is not that simple....

Meanwhile, as the stories swirling around Muftugolu become increasingly sinister, the dead man's wife appears, laying claim to his valuables and Suleyman is drawn into a dark and dangerous world of smuggling and savagery....

©2022 Barbara Nadel (P)2022 Headline Publishing Group Ltd Crime Fiction Historical Fiction International Mystery & Crime Mystery Police Procedural Fiction Marriage Crime

Critic reviews

"Every relationship comes at a cost in this tense and gripping Turkish mystery from award-winning crime writer Barbara Nadel and featuring Ikmen—'one of modern crime fiction's true heroes." (The Times)
All stars
Most relevant
I have followed the lives of Cetin and Mehmet for many years and as soon as I discovered a new book I ordered it. I like the way Barbara Nadel introduces elements of the current political scene into the story. This book is about art fraud and the build up to Mehmet and Gonca’s wedding. I wasn’t sure it was going to happen or not. No spoiler here. Not sure about the Gonca’s character she is very demanding in every respect and she is not as ‘top drawer’ as Mehmet. I enjoy Sean Barrett’s performance as ever although a few double takes haven’t been edited out. In the Cetin books, I think, there is a list of characters which is not possible with a tbk. I find that Turkish names for characters I am not familiar with confusing. I think I will have to listen to the last couple of hours again to ensure I know how the book ends although not a problem. Looking forward to the next one and a Hakim and Arnold book, although very different, really good. Hurry up Barbara.

Love these Turkish tales

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A fascinating tale read by one of the best in the business. Spoilt by shoddy editing. Unedited retakes and some heavy handed filtering which renders ‘she’ as ‘he’. Unacceptable.

Careless production values

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Whilst I have always enjoyed this series, I am not entirely happy with this one : (a) although SB does a masterful job of navigating his way through the Turkish names I did find it confusing and hard to keep track of everyone, and (b) it would be helpful if the editor left a bit of a gap between scenes. Whilst there is a pause between Chapters, the scenes shift without so much as a breath. This leads me to do a lot of backtracking to make sure I understand what is really going on.


Difficult to rate

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After I bought this audiobook, I realized I’d already read the print version. Just as well as for me, the phrasing in the narration made it difficult to follow the story. Barbara Nadel frequently changes from scene to scene in the same chapter but without any pause between, made it incoherent and I had to backtrack many times to make sense out of it. Also, while the love between the two main characters is undeniable, the description of their (ahem) “physical interactions” is embarrassing rather than erotic.

Difficult listen

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